1st Edition
Demystifying Creativity On Originality in Game Development
This book is a study of the psychology, neuroscience and philosophy of creativity, originality and inspiration viewed from the lens of a seasoned game developer. It introduces the concept of creative sobriety, a practice that advocates better understanding our own sources of inspiration so that we can intellectually drive our creative voice closer to originality.
The creative process is not just a methodical sequence of steps - it’s organic in its nature. It’s an improvised dance between the conscious and the subconscious mind, where knowledge, experience, intuition, observation, imagination and projection meet in ways that are completely unique to each person. Presenting practical and theoretical approaches to originality and game concept generation, the book begins by offering a definition of creativity and exploring the notion of creative sobriety. It then moves on to chapters that blend theory and practice, covering topics such as innovation, the creative process, auteurship, collaboration, and creative vision.
Written by award-winning Creative Director and Game Designer Fawzi Mesmar, this book will be of great interest to students of game design and creative professionals working within industry, as well as those looking to learn more about the creative process.
Foreword - Hiromasa Iwasaki (岩崎啓眞)
Introduction
Chapter One: Defining Creativity
Chapter Two: Inspiration
Chapter Three: Creative Sobriety
Chapter Four: Innovation
Chapter Five: The Creative Process
Chapter Six: The Creative Dilemma
Biography
Fawzi Mesmar (فوزي مسمار) is an award winning Creative Director, Game designer, Leader, author, public speaker and mentor that has been in the gaming industry for over two decades in a career that spanned The Middle East, New Zealand, Japan and Europe working for companies such as Ubisoft, Electronics Arts, Activision Blizzard King, Gameloft and Atlus to name a few.
As a Game Designer / Director he has worked on over 20 titles that have been enjoyed by millions of players world wide, most notably games in the Mario+Rabbids, Star Wars, Battlefield, Candy Crush , Persona Franchises and many more.
As a manager he was in line management and leadership positions in different companies with varied cultures around the world which created a unique blend in management style; overseeing teams of variety sizes.
As an author, he wrote the first ever text book about game design in Arabic: Al-Khallab on the art of game design الخلاب في فن تصميم الألعاب. Fawzi co-authored 9 comic books under the men of honor series (sold 5 million copies in MENA). He’s a columnist at Pocket Gamer Arabia, and blogs frequently about game design and the business of making games.
Fawzi speaks regularly at many global gaming conventions such as GDC, Reboot develop, Devcom, Gamescom congress, GIC, NZGDC, DWGC, MEGA, MGDC, white nights, Games Forum, Mobile Games forum, Quo Vadis, Pocket Gamer, Casual Connect and many more.
As a mentor, He also frequently holds lectures at game design and development schools such as London university of fine arts, Breda University of applied sciences in the Netherlands, Auckland media design school, NYU, Cologne Design University, Auckland university of technology, American University in Cairo, Berlin Games Academy, Jordan gaming labs, New Zealand lifeway college and many more. He’s currently serving on the board of education at Future games in Stockholm.
He's also a Google mentor, a jury member at the BAFTAs, IMGA (international mobile games awards) and GDCA (Game developers choice awards) and countless other regional award ceremonies around the world. Fawzi also co-founded the IGDA chapter in Berlin, Germany.
Together with fellow Arab game developers Rami Ismail and Osama Dorias, he’s part of “The Habibis”, a popular podcast about Arab culture, game development and creativity.
Fawzi was the winner of the ambassador award at Game developers choice awards in 2024 and Game Dev Heroes award in 2020 for the category of Game Design for his contributions to the field. Fawzi was named future class by the Game awards in 2022 and he was also one of Gamesindustry.biz 100 game changers of the year 2020.
Fawzi holds a bachelor degree in computer science from the University of Jordan, and a Masters in business administration from Durham University in the UK.
“Demystifying Creativity is a call to action for designers, artists, or anyone else looking to innovate in a project or organization. In this remarkable book, Fawzi Mesmar challenges us to expand our influences, sharpen our methods, and become more deeply and profoundly creative - a state of mind he calls “creative sobriety.” While he hails from the video game industry - and offers fascinating insider case studies - Mesmar’s ideas and techniques are relevant to just about any field.”
Eric Zimmerman, Game Designer and Arts Professor, NYU Game Center.
"Fawzi's book helped me when I was feeling like down in a creative slump, and the methods and science behind creativity helped re-spark some of the love I had for games, why I got into this industry in the first place and concrete tools to pick myself back up.”
Jenny Xu, Creative Director and CEO at Talofa.
"Mesmar places a kaleidoscopic lens on the concept of creativity, seamlessly delivering a powerful mix of actionable ways to nourish your own creative practice & philosophical musings on this often elusive topic. No matter your experience level in creative leadership, you'll find something here to expand your mind, challenge your views, or take with you into your next project."
Rami Ismail, Industry Ambassador.
“This book presents the reader with a deep understanding of what creativity is and how to assess and measure it. If that weren't enough, it also provides a framework for the act of creating. A must-have for creatives in any industry.”
Osama Dorias, Game Design Director, and Professor.
